PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE (PRELIMINARY)

Definitions
 Etymological Definition
Literature is derived from the Latin term litera, which means letter.
 Real Definition
Literature is a faithful reproduction of man's manifold experiences blended
into one harmonious expression. [Zulueta and Kahayon)
Literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and
feelings of people, whether it is true, or just a product of one's imagination
(Webster)
Characteristics
Content : man's ideas or thoughts, feelings or emotions, dream or
aspirations.
Theme : love happiness, hatred, anger, pity or revenge.
Language : imaginative, creative, interpretive, selective, figurative
Form : narrative, poetic

Importance
1. It helps us to appreciate and preserve our literary heritage.
2. It helps us to connect ourselves to cultural context which we are part.
3. It helps us to grow both personally and intellectually
4. It helps us to shape our lives and makes us human.
5. It encourages us to assist talented people who are in need.

Types/Divisions
1. Poetry is an expression of a feeling, an insight, and a discovery about
man's life. It is the language of imagination in a verse form.
a. Narrative Poetry-a poem that tells story.
1. Ballad - the narration of a story in poetic form.
2. Epic -a story about the heroic deeds of an individual written in
verse.
3. Metrical Tale - a fictitious account of events or facts presented
based on the metric system as a standard of measurement

b. Lyric Poetry - a poem that is subjective and emotional

1. Song - a poem that is set to music.
2. Psalm - a poem that praises God.
3. Elegy - a poem for a dead person.
4. Corrido - a poem having eight syllables in each line
5. Sonnet - a poem consisting of fourteen lines.
6. Ode - a poem that exalts a feeling or style.
7. Lullaby – song that makes children to sleep.

c. Dramatic Poetry - a play written in verse form.

1. Monologue - a dramatic sketch performs by one actor alone.
2. Soliloquy - a presentation where one actor talks to himself
3. Comedy - a light drama written with the purpose of amusing the
audience.
4. Farce - an exaggerated comedy that seeks to arouse mirth by
laughable lines.
5. Melodrama-a drama that arouses an intense emotion and is
usually sad.
6. Tragedy - a drama that involves a hero struggling against dynamic
forces.
Poetry – a literary form which expresses an individual’s emotion and idea.
Elements of Poetry
Stanza – refers to the grouping of lines or succession of lines arranged
together according to substance.
Form – pertains to the style of the poem or how the poem is structured.
 A. Classical Poetry – shows metrical pattern, has specific number of
lines and has rhyme scheme.
B. Contemporary Poetry – it does not have meter, rhyme, nor
pattern. It is also called free or blank verse.

Rhyme – repetition of similar sounds.

A. End Rhyme – refers to words with similar sounds that appear at
the end of the lines.
B. Internal Rhyme – kind of rhyme found in the middle of the lines or
a rhyme within the lines.

Rhythm – refers to the tempo or beat created through the stress and
unstressed syllables presented in the lines.
Meter – the pattern of the sounds or the organized arrangement of sounds.
This is shown by the kind of foot and the feet number.
Poetry meter - defined by the Poetry Foundation as the rhythmical pattern
of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse. A foot usually contains one
stressed syllable and at least one unstressed syllable.
Rhyme Scheme - the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of
a poem or verse
Types of Poetry
Narrative Poetry - a form of poetry that tells a story, often making the
voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually
written in metered verse.
Subtypes of Narrative Poetry
 Ballad – a type of narrative poetry that narrates a story.
 Epic – a lengthy kind of narrative poem which centers on a historical
or legendary hero’s victorious feat.

Lyric Poetry – a kind of poem expresses the strong emotions and thoughts
of the persona in the poem.
Subtypes of Narrative Poetry
  Ode – a lyric poem of medium or long length, focused on a significant
subject.
 Sonnet – a type of lyric poem that has fourteen lines, and is often
expressed in iambic pentameter in English.
 Elegy – a form of lyric poetry which focuses on mourning for the
dead.

Descriptive Poetry - a type of poetry which describe the environment that

the persona is in.
Other Types of Poetry
Haiku – a type of poem originated in Japan.
Limerick – a kind of well-structured narrative poem, comprised of a
cinquain and has rhyme scheme of “AABBA.”

2. Prose - consists of those written within the common flow of conversation

in sentences and paragraphs.
a. Novel - a long narrative divided into chapters.
b. Short Story - a narrative involving one or more characters, one
plot, and single impression/event.
c. Legend - a fictitious narrative, usually about origins.
d. Fable - a fictitious narrative that deals with animals and inanimate
things who speak and act like people.
e. Parable - a simple story told to illustrate a moral truth.
f. Play - a drama presented on stage.
g. Anecdote - a brief story of an interesting, amusing biographical
incident.
h. Essay - a literary composition usually deals with the sun from a
personal point of view of a writer.
i. Biography - a written story of a person's life.
j. News - a report of recent events in society.
k. Oration - a formal and public speech.
Figurative language
1. Simile (Pagtutulad) is an expressed comparison of things essentially
unlike but have a common similarity by means of the words like, as or as
if.
e.g. a. Every time a truck passed by the house rocked like a hammock.
b. ang salapi'y parang tubig, natutuyo't buma-balong...

2. Metaphor (Pagwawangis) is an implied comparison of two unlike things

but have a common similarity.
e.g. a. To be truly in love is not to lie in the bed of roses.
b. Ang salapi'y isdang paing pang huli sa kapwa isda.
3. Personification (Pagbibigay Katauhan) gives ans inanimate object or
abstract ideo a human attribute or considers it a living being.
e.g. a. At last the wind sighed itself to sleep.
b. Ang salapi'y may bibig, namununi't nanunu
4. Apostrophe (Paatawag) is an address to the absent as if he were
present, or to inanimate object and abstract ideas as though they were
alive.
e.g. a. Mountains and hills come fall on me.
b. O pagsintang labis ang kapangyarihan sampung magaama'y iyong
nasasaklaw.
5. Monotomy (Pagpapalit-tawag) is a name of one thing used in a place
of another suggested or associated with it.
e.g. a. Gray hairs should be respected.
b. Ako ang unang pumukol ng bato sa kanya..
6. Antithesis (Pagsasalungat) is an opposition of thoughts, words, or
ideas in the sentence or line.
e.g. a. His body is active but his mind is sluggish.
b. Ikaw ang napako, ako ang natetano.
7. Hyperbole (Pagmamalabis) is an exaggerated statement made for
emphasis or often, for humorous effect.
e.g. a. Morning, noon, and night her tongue was incessantly doing.
b. Sa isang kisapmata, nabuhay ang kanyang asawa.
8. Irony (Pagsalungat-kahulugan) is a humorous or sarcastic expression
in which the intended meaning of the word is direct opposite of what is
meant.
e.g. a. It was very kind of you to remind me of my humiliation.
b. Ang ganda ng damit mo parang kurtina namin.

Prepared by:
Ms. Airah B. Villaflores
Faculty – Taytay Campus